


Where We Belong

by FLAMINGO_Garbeaux



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Other, Semi-Canon Compliant, implied romantic feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22270762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FLAMINGO_Garbeaux/pseuds/FLAMINGO_Garbeaux
Summary: War tears families apart, and Petra will do her best to make a new one for her best friend.
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez/Petra Macneary
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	Where We Belong

**Author's Note:**

> This story changes up an off screen death a little. It isn't a massive change, but it is a change. I hope it works in a dramatic sense!

It was cold. Fodlan seemed to always be at least a little cold for Petra's tastes. She couldn't suppress the shiver that jolted through her body, so she settled by taking a few jerky steps as her form convulsed. The sky was overcast, with no sunlight able to creep through the cloud cover that dominated overhead. Garreg Mach, which had been buzzing and alive after the end of the conflict just two weeks before, was beginning to come down from all the revelries. Claude was making plans for the new Fodlan Alliance to pass into a strong leaders capable hands, and her other classmates were beginning to make plans for their futures.

  
All of her classmates...except for one. Petra felt her heart sink a little at the memory of Caspar's face, and sped up her pace. Last week, he had received news that his father had been killed in a holding action outside of Enbarr. He had chosen not to surrender, and had bought time for his troops to escape with their lives by sacrificing his own.

Petra, in that moment, had finally forgiven the man. He may have killed her father, but that...that was war. Just like this had been war. Margrave von Bergliez had proven himself an honorable and fearsome warrior, and she respected that. He had also raised an exceptionally good son, who the very thought of caused her heart to flutter, so Petra felt a true sense of peace towards his memory. Caspar had swallowed the news as well as could be expected; better, actually, but that still wasn't good. The young man had wept for a few minutes upon her shoulder, before thanking her and taking the first steps towards moving on from the hardships and horrors of this accursed conflict.

  
Now, though...Byleth had told Petra that he had received a letter. A letter which bore the crest of house Bergliez, and that upon delivering it to Caspar...the young warrior had become distant, as if struck cold- which were certainly not words one could ever use to describe him normally. That could only mean one thing...more bad news.

  
She passed by the old classrooms of the three houses, and saw him standing on the battlements- alone, dressed in some plain clothes that looked similar to his old school uniform, the letter held in one hand and his head faced straight on. He seemed to be gazing across the chasm, towards the cathedral. Petra walked up beside him, and he didn't react to the appearance of another person. She stood there for a few moments, and he still didn't make a move to greet her; the small pit of worry in her stomach grew immensely.

  
“Caspar...?”

  
The young war master startled then, and he finally acknowledged her with a look. His eyes were somehow wild and downtrodden at the same time. “Oh, hey Petra...what can I do ya for? Are you ok?”

  
His voice was weak at first, but began to revive a little as he had continued. She felt her heart melt a little at his concern for her even in his own moment of crisis.

  
“The professor has said that you were doing the receiving of a letter,” Petra answered, and his face immediately fell into a scowl. “He said that it seemed to be giving you the discomfort.”

  
“Uh, I, uh...yeah, I...I suppose it did.”

  
She waited for him to continue, but he did not. The young princess reached out and held his wrist. “You...you do not need to be doing me the telling...I mean, you do not have to tell me...but if you must be speaking, then I will always be listening. You know this, don't you?”

  
He held her gaze, his eyes intense. His arm pulled slightly at her grip, and she now found herself holding his hand as he slipped his fingers in between her own. She felt her eyebrows raise slightly- that was certainly not the most Caspar thing of him to do.

  
He opened his mouth, and began to try to speak. The words, however, were apparently not cooperating. Eventually he sighed. “I can't...say it...”

  
The note was held between them now, and his hand let go of hers. Feeling like her fingers were a little colder, she took the letter and began to read.

  
_Caspar,_

  
_This letter is a formality. You killed our father. Your hand may not have delivered the final blow, your eyes may not have witnessed his dying gasps, but you were part of the invading army that laid low a man as strong and formidable as a mountain. As far as I am concerned, you have committed patricide and you will never be forgiven within my house._

  
_I have completed the process of striking your name from every record that house Bergliez has stored since your birth. It will be as if you never existed- truthfully, there was never a reason for you to exist in the first place, so I can see now that it is no loss. You no longer bear our name, and are henceforth barred from Bergliez territory under pain of torment and death._

  
_If we should ever meet again- if we should ever cross paths, even if it be not within my domain- know that it will mean battle to the death between us. I would take great pleasure in delivering your traitorous head to fathers grave. I am glad that mother is not alive to see this tragedy, but even if she were- my heart would not be swayed. You are an abomination- a blood traitor of the worst kind. If not for your high standings within this new, abhorrent regime, I would personally set out to fulfill this righteous and fair vengeance instead of writing out this warning._

  
_Take these truths to your grave,_

  
_Margrave von Bergliez_

  
Petra's mouth set into a frown as she seethed in rage. How dare this man threaten Caspar like this- his own brother!

  
“If he were to come track you down,” she began, her voice a burning inferno. “I would be beside you. I will never let you fight alone, never again. He would fail.”

  
Caspar had been staring at his feet. As she finished her declaration, his arms moved slowly to wrap around her. She mimicked the gesture, and they simply held each other in silence for a few minutes. He must be aching even worse from this than finding out about his father.

  
“Thanks, Petra,” he whispered into her ear, his voice thick with to many emotions for her to identify any of them.

  
She nuzzles into his broad shoulder, holding back what feels like a river of tears of her own. “It is nothing, Caspar. You are precious to me, we will always be doing the protecting of each other.”

  
They pull away, but do not let go of each other. As she is standing there, his hands on her elbows and hers on his, a thought strikes her like lightning.

  
“Come with me, at the ending of this month,” she says, her voice low and thick with sincerity. “Come with me back to Brigid. It could... it will...be your home now.”

He blinks, his jaw dropping a little in shock. “Come...with you...? Petra, I don't know how good of an idea that is...”

“And why would it not be a good idea?” Petra challenges, and she fails to keep a slight sting of hurt out of her tone. He notices, and his frown deepens unhappily even as he pulls her in closer with his grip.

“Because...of my father. I am still his...son. Even if we were enemies,” he says, the worry in his tone giving way to some of the anguish of these last few weeks. Petra feels the boiling anger well within her soul as he struggles to call himself what he is. “They would never accept me...it would make your position more tenuous, make you seem weaker in the eyes of your people.”

It wasn't a completely baseless statement. Petra did not care.

“I will be doing the dealing with that. The people will learn to love you, because you are a great man who is loyal and good to their queen. The politicians...well, there is a Fodlan saying of which Leonie and the professor have done the acquainting me with, that is fitting my thoughts for them perfectly.”

“And that is...?”

“Fuck 'em.”

Caspar snorts in laughter, his mouth twisting up into that big goofy grin that reaches his eyes and eats up his whole face. Petra smiles back warmly and revels in the glow of it.

“...alright,” he laughs out after a few moments of contemplation and a shake of his head. “That settles it! I'm goin' to Brigid, to live with my best friend!”  
Petra feels her heart beat like a drum, and she smiles as she reaches up and places a small peck onto his right cheek. “Oh Caspar, you will be loving it there! It will fill your heart with wonder!”

They wrap their arms around each other once more, and Petra feels that the chill that had settled in her was, finally, beginning to thaw.


End file.
